Beyond Titles: The Real Meaning of Leadership
In this UX Cake Pop, I’m sharing my experience with the true meaning of leadership, which is not about having a specific job title or position of authority, but about inspiring and guiding others towards a shared goal. Anyone can be a leader at any point in their life, regardless of their title or level of experience. There are different ways of being a leader without a traditional leadership title or authority, starting with being a leader in your own life. UX pros in particular have an opportunity to create positive change through collaboration and effective communication. Listen in and consider what kind of leader you are, and what kind of leader you want to be!
For more leadership resources, workshops, programs, and coaching, visit StrategicUXLeader.com
Connect with UX Cake!
FULL TRANSCRIPT
00:00
Welcome to UX Cakepops from the UX Cake podcast. I'm your host, Leigh Allen-Arredondo.
00:09
Hi friends. So I'm bringing back UX Cakepops. These are short and sweet episodes in between our regular episodes of UX Cake. And we tried this out in season two, and people really liked it. So I'm going to try it again.
00:28
In today's UX cakepops, I want to go beyond job titles and talk about the true meaning of leadership. Leadership is not about having a specific job title or position of authority, even though that is often how people think about leadership. Leadership is really about inspiring and guiding others toward a shared goal. So with this more expansive definition, you can be a leader at any point in your life, when you're a child, in school. And in your career, regardless of your title, or what level of experience you have.
01:17
In UX especially, we have the skills and creativity to contribute unique solutions to problems. This is one of probably our favorite things to do. In UX, it often is what, what brings people into doing UX. So when we can combine that with an ability to communicate and collaborate really effectively with our team members, that is what we're doing, we're inspiring, and guiding others toward a shared goal. So whether you're leading a team or working independently, you can be making a difference and driving positive change by being a leader in your role. That could be positive change in the product you're making. It can be in how people work together, it could be in processes, there's a lot of ways you can make positive change, and display your leadership, it's important to remember that you can really have an impact and be a leader without holding that traditional leadership role. One example of this kind of leadership is being a leader in your own life. And this means that you're taking charge of your own actions and decisions, and you're living a life that's true to your values and beliefs. So by taking responsibility for your own growth and development, you can inspire others to do the same and be a leader in your own right. Part of this work includes being a continuous learner, and being adaptable to change, and being honest and caring with others and with ourselves, and leaving our genius behind.
03:13
In fact, I think that working on having a learner mindset, rather than a judge, your mindset has got to be one of the greatest leadership skills and this just a great general mindset skill to build that we can work on. So for example, when we listen to others, we want to be listening to learn rather than listening to see what we disagree with. We want to be asking more questions rather than jumping to conclusions or assumptions. In fact, asking questions rather than offering solutions often can have a really, really positive effect on our personal relationships, both at work and at home. So the first step toward developing this learner mindset is to be aware, when we are in judger mindset, when we're being judgmental, about others, or about ourselves, I think I could create a whole UX kick episode just about developing a learner mindset.
04:18
But I'm gonna move on, we can also be leaders through influence, and I get asked this a lot, how to influence without authority. So you do not need to be in a position of authority to have an impact on others. Many people develop influence through building relationships at work. And one way to build influence in an authentic way at work is to focus on building relationships with the people you work with people on other teams across teams across levels, and you can do this by taking the time to really get to know the people that
05:00
You work with offering to help out where needed, and by demonstrating a commitment to teamwork and collaboration. Also, learning new skills and techniques and staying up to date on industry trends can really help demonstrate your expertise. And that also builds trust and respect with your colleagues. Many people are leaders who work behind the scenes. So they may not be the one making the decisions, but their input, and ideas and guidance is crucial for the success of the team or the project. And their colleagues or their superiors see them as a leader because of their contributions and their expertise. Some leadership skills to develop in this context might include being an active listener. So you're not just always spouting out your expertise, that tends to erode trust versus building trust. So being an active listener, is really an important part of contributing your expertise. Also being honest and respectful, as well as being a really effective communicator.
06:18
Servant leadership is another way to lead without formal authority. When you are putting the needs of others before your own, and you're actively working to support them, one can demonstrate the qualities of a strong leader and gain the respect and the trust of those around them. So this type of leader is more of a facilitator and listener and problem solver, and is really focused on empowering others to achieve their full potential. And you can incorporate some of these into your own day to day work without becoming a coach, for example. And here's something you may know, but it's easy to forget, there is no peak, when it comes to leadership skills, even the best and the biggest leaders have to continually hone their skills and growth. So there is always room to grow. So these are just a few thoughts about what leadership means beyond a title and authority. To sum it up. Leadership is about inspiring and guiding others toward a shared goal. And in UX, you have an opportunity to display leadership by collaborating and communicating effectively, and driving positive change. You can work on being a leader in your own life as a foundation, and develop a learner mindset versus a judger mindset. Try building influence through building relationships, listening to others, contributing your unique expertise and perspectives. And lastly, consider how you could empower others.
So in parting, I have some questions for you to reflect on after hearing this. What kind of leader are you? What kind of leader do you want to be? And what kind of positive impact do you want to have on the world around you?
And before I go, did you know that I offer workshops and group programs for leadership development for UX pros, so whether you want to get clear on your career goals, or you're looking to uplevel your career and your strategic skills or you want to develop your own leadership path? I offer hands on coaching and development programs for creating impact and finding fulfillment in your work. I have a program coming up that starts in February specifically for people managers in UX. I have another coming up in March for individual contributors. There are other workshops that I do throughout the year, and you can find out all about that at strategic UX leader.com. So that's it for today's UX cake pop. Short and sweet. I would love to hear from you if you found this at all helpful. Drop us a line at UX cake in LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, UXcake.co, or email at UX cake podcast@gmail.com.